4 Last-Minute Preparations You Can Still Make Before Post-Peak Returns Hit
Senior Vice President,
Phoenix Logistics
[email protected]
phoenix3pl.com
920-915-9746
The increased return volume that January brings is just around the corner. Here are four ways retail supply chain professionals can boost efficiency before the returns peak.
Omnichannel retailers and ecommerce sellers rightfully dedicate significant time, money, and resources to the holiday peak season. But consumers will inevitably choose to return some of the items they purchased or were gifted over the holidays.
UPS and Happy Returns expect just under 16% of their annual sales to be returned in 2025, while the National Retail Federation estimates shoppers will return more than 19% of purchases made online. When applying those percentages against peak season sales volumes, you’re looking at a lot of returned goods come January.
Many retailers may feel it’s too late to make additional preparations for the increased return volume. However, here are four ways retail supply chain professionals can still boost efficiency before January’s returns peak.
1. Re-forecast and staff up for Peak 2.0
When the holiday rush ends, that doesn’t mean labor needs to end with it. Returns season requires extra hands to get the job done. To ensure you’re properly staffed to handle returns, you can:
- Examine historical data to project incoming volumes by category, SKU, and channel.
- Identify top-performing holiday hires and ask them to stay on through January.
- Train additional staff to handle the additional volume.
Even modest improvements to your returns forecast can help to reduce bottlenecks around the three Rs of returns: receiving, restocking, and refunds.
2. Improve visibility for both you and your customers
Allow your customers to initiate returns at physical stores, online, or via mobile apps to avoid delays and keep the experience positive. Integrate real-time tracking data with your customer management systems so representatives can quickly answer the most important question customers will have: Where’s my refund?
Also ensure the customers have access to that data through automatic updates, which will relieve strain on your call center and keep ancillary costs down. Providing transparency to your customers builds trust in your brand.
3. Reevaluate your disposition options
Some goods arrive damaged, and others can’t be restocked. After all, nobody wants a secondhand bottle of nail polish or an opened package of undergarments.
Some additional options besides disposal or restocking may include:
- Recycling
- Tax-deductible donation to eligible charities
- Bulk liquidation to resellers/wholesalers
- Allowing customers to keep items that will be disposed of anyway
4. Leverage the returns expertise of your 3PL
Many retailers and online sellers let their third-party logistics (3PL) partner handle the post-holiday returns wave. Doing this can offer significant savings on in-house labor, while ensuring efficient processing of returns.
A capable 3PL can bring:
- Scalable capacity
- Trained labor
- Optimized transportation networks
- Existing visibility technology
A good 3PL partner will return items to inventory faster, collect and analyze data to identify return patterns, and facilitate faster processing that results in quick refunds for customers.
Making the Best of Peak 2.0
Returns are inevitable for any retailer, but chaos doesn’t have to be.
With a little proactive planning, streamlined workflows, and the right logistics partnerships, you can turn the January rush from a cost center into an opportunity for continuous improvement.